So we took the missing kid quest.
Eight copper split four ways. Two each.
I did that math twice, just in case it magically improved the second time. It did not.
The quest board did not care that this involved a seven-year-old. It cared that it was east district, low priority, previously investigated, no confirmed monster involvement.
Which translates to: no bonus.
We took it anyway.
The east district felt like the part of town the guild forgot to remember.
Same city. Same stone. Just everything slightly more worn down than it needed to be.
The mother opened the door before we knocked.
CREAK.
She looked at the four of us and I could see her recalculating hope in real time.
Big axe. Oversized hat. Needle sword. Me.
"You're the team."
"We are," I said. It felt dishonest but technically correct.
She let us in.
The father sat at the table staring at food that had gone cold. When he looked up and saw us, something awful and fragile moved across his face.
Hope is not subtle when it's desperate.
Rael stepped forward. Her voice changed.
"Tell us everything."
Three days ago. Lira. Seven years old. After lunch. Didn't come home.
They searched. Neighbors searched. Guild came. Looked around. Told them children wander.
"They said she would turn up," the father said, hands flat on the table.
"She has never wandered," the mother said. "Not once."
"The guild waited two days before listing it publicly," Senna said quietly.
I made a note of that in my head.
"What's past the houses here?" I asked.
"Old storage buildings."
"We told her not to go near them," the father said.
Mira looked at him. "Did she listen."
The silence answered.
"She was curious," the mother said.
Mira nodded once.
"Show us."
Four stone buildings at the end of a road that gave up halfway down.
Heavy doors. Windows too high.
Boot prints in the mud near the front.
"Guild team," Rael said.
"They looked around and left," I said.
Behind the building, near the ground, two stones had shifted apart.
"I can't fit," Rael said.
"Neither can I."
Mira took off her bag and handed it to me.
"It's dark," I said.
She looked at me.
"I know."
And went in anyway.
Waiting is not dramatic.
It's just long.
Senna had her book open.
"You are not writing about the child," I said.
"The stone erosion," she said.
"Senna."
She hugged the book against her chest and went quiet.
From inside, Mira's voice.
Then silence.
Then—
"…hello?"
A small voice answered.
Rael's grip tightened.
Mira came out first.
Then a small hand.
Then Lira.
Seven years old. Covered in dust.
Holding Mira's hand.
Rael immediately picked up Mira's bag.
"Are you adventurers?" Lira asked.
"Yes," I said.
"Real ones?"
"Working on it," I said.
"She has a sword," Lira said.
"But she's a healer."
"That's allowed," Mira said.
We walked her home.
The sound her mother made— I'm not describing that.
The father crossed the room.
Eight copper pressed into my hand.
Bread forced into Senna's arms.
We left.
Outside the inn, we didn't go in right away.
"She was in there three days," Rael said.
"Yes."
"The guild walked past that gap."
"Yes."
"Two copper each."
It wasn't anger.
It was accounting.
Morning came.
And then the zipper happened.
I came downstairs.
They were already seated.
Porridge arrived.
Senna looked up.
"You need new clothes."
"Good morning."
"And there are metal teeth on your trousers."
Rael leaned forward slowly.
"What is that."
"It's a zipper."
She stood up.
"No."
She reached across the table.
"WAIT—"
She grabbed it.
I grabbed her wrist.
She grabbed mine.
"I need to see how it works," she said calmly.
"IT IS ON MY TROUSERS."
"I am aware."
"THEN WHY—"
"Metal teeth near a sensitive area is a design flaw. Someone should evaluate that."
"NOT YOU."
She let go.
I stumbled back into my chair.
Rael sat back down.
"It opens downward," she said thoughtfully.
"I KNOW."
"Safety confirmed."
"I DID NOT REQUEST SAFETY."
Half the market was staring.
I pulled my jacket over my lap.
Mira sipped her tea.
"Are they sharp," she asked.
I stood up.
"I am going to the market to buy normal trousers," I said very calmly, "and we are never speaking of this again."
"About what," Rael asked.
I left.
Outside, I looked at the sky.
"Not a word."
From far above— Laughter.
When I came back, they were waiting.
"Better," Rael said.
"You look local," Senna said.
"She watches everything."
"Yes."
"The zipper."
"Yes."
"All of it."
"Yes."
Rael straightened and looked up.
"I was conducting a safety inspection."
Laughter.
Guild hall.
"Party name?"
Silence.
"We're here because nobody else would have us," I said.
The clerk wrote.
NOBODY'S PARTY.
Stamp.
Official.
"It fits," Mira said quietly.
"I hate all of you."
"No you don't," Mira said.
And somewhere high above—
Softer laughter.
Not louder.
Worse.